1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air guide duct for a vehicle, and more particularly, to an improvement of the air guide duct which is disposed inside vehicle interior members such as an instrument panel, a floor console, a ceiling panel etc. so as to communicate air outlets provided in the interior members with an air conditioner unit thereby guiding temperature regulated air from the air conditioner unit to the air outlets.
2. Background of the Invention
Inside a cockpit in a vehicle such as an automobile, there are mounted various vehicle interior members such as a instrument panel on which various types of on-vehicle equipments such as a meter board, an air conditioner operating panel, an audio unit, and so on are installed, a floor console disposed on a floor between a driver""s seat and an passenger""s seat, and a ceiled panel attached to a ceiling of the cockpit. In a forward area of the cockpit, there is installed an air conditioner unit adapted to be operated and controlled by means of the above mentioned air conditioner operating panel in a state covered with the instrument panel. Temperature regulated air which has been adjusted to a determined temperature in the air conditioner unit is blown out from air blowoff parts (air outlets) provided in outer faces of, for example, the aforesaid instrument panel, the floor console, the ceiling panel and so on into the passengers"" room. In particular, there are provided, inside the vehicle interior members, the air guide ducts connecting the aforesaid air conditioner unit with the air outlets. The temperature regulated air from the air conditioner unit is guided to the respective air outlets through these air guide ducts.
Various on-vehicle electronic equipments such as the above mentioned air conditioner unit, meter board, air conditioner operating panel, audio unit and so on are mounted on the vehicle. These on-vehicle electronic equipments are electrically connected by means of a number of wire harnesses (wire elements) which are arranged in the rear of the vehicle interior members, and a system of electrical components is constituted by these wire harnesses.
In the meantime, in the forward part of the cockpit, there is disposed a reinforce bar which is a vehicle body reinforcing member intended to enhance rigidity of the vehicle body, in a state where it is covered with the aforesaid instrument panel. This reinforce bar extends in a transverse direction of the vehicle with its both ends fixed to both side parts of the vehicle body. Accordingly, the reinforce bar has also a function of installing and fixing the air conditioner unit, a steering shaft and an air bag unit and so on, in addition to a function as the reinforcing member intended to enhance the rigidity of the vehicle body. In particular, the air conditioner unit is fixed to the vehicle body at a plurality of positions, some of which are located in the reinforce bar.
The above described air guide duct is a complicatedly crooked hollow member which has across section of a rectangular, circular, or strange shape. A main stream of the air guide duct is an integrally molded article which has been blow molded from raw material such as high density polyethylene (HDPE), for example. Although such blow molded air guide duct has advantages that it has appropriate rigidity, it is light weighted, and it can be molded at low cost, it has a drawback that in case where a large difference in temperature exists between an interior air flowing space and the exterior, condensation is likely to occur because of small thickness of the air guide duct. Therefore, there have been such inconveniences that when water drops are formed from this condensation and fall on steel components such as the vehicle body, brackets, and so on, this will be a cause of rust, or when the water drops fall on the aforesaid wire harnesses or the electrical equipments of the electrical component system, this will cause a short circuit or incur malfunction or breakdown of the on-vehicle equipments. Further, unpleasant noises may sometimes occur in the event that a duct body formed of polyethylene comes in contact with other members. For this reason, countermeasures for preventing the condensation and the strange noise have been taken by applying a urethane sheet or the like around an outer peripheral face of the duct. However, it has been a problem that cost for material of the urethane sheet and assembly process are required, and production cost will be increased. Still further, it has been pointed out that since the air conditioner unit and the air outlets spatially communicate with each other by way of the air guide ducts, operating noises of a blower which is driven by the air conditioner unit spread in the air flowing space in the air guide duct and are leaked into the cockpit.
Moreover, the wire harnesses of the aforesaid electrical component system are appropriately bundled by means of binding tapes, binding belt or the like in their parts extending between the electronic equipments, and fixed for wiring to the vehicle body or the like at appropriate intervals by means of engaging members. However, in many cases, the wire harnesses are kept exposed while extending inside the aforesaid vehicle interior members. Therefore, there has been a fear that the wire harnesses may oscillate with vibrations of the vehicle body while driving, may come into contact with other members, or may be partially pulled. There has been a further anxiety that in some cases, a conductive wire may be exposed due to wear of covering material, resulting in a short circuit or a break of the wire. Furthermore, since the wiring arrangement and the binding work of the wire harnesses are rather annoying and time consuming, it has been sought for to realize rationalization and simplification of the work.
In addition, the air conditioner unit is fixed to the above described reinforce bar in a directly contacted manner, and therefore, vibrations of the blower and a compressor while the air conditioner unit is operating are directly transmitted to the reinforce bar. Accordingly, the vibrations of the air conditioner unit are transmitted to the aforesaid steering shaft which is connected to the reinforce bar, and it has been pointed out that the vibrations will give unpleasant feeling to the driver who is handling the steering wheel.
The invention has been proposed in order to solve the above described problems, and it is an object of the invention to provide an air guide duct for a vehicle which consists of a first base body molded from resin sheet material having rigidity and a second base body formed of foamed resin sheet material which is excellent in heat insulating, sound insulating noise absorbing and vibration damping performance to integrally form a mounting part capable of containing a duct for guiding temperature regulated air, wire harnesses and so on, whereby prevention of condensation, prevention of occurrence of strange noises, noise absorption, etc. associated with the duct are made possible, and at the same time, which is so constructed as to realize protection of the wire harnesses and rationalization of the wiring work, and in which a part of the second base member can be utilized as vibration damping material and the sound proofing material with respect to the air conditioner unit.
In order to solve the above described problems and attain the intended objects, there is provided according to an aspect of the present invention, an air guide duct which is connected for communication with an air conditioner unit provided in a cockpit in a vehicle and adapted to pass and guide temperature regulated air supplied from the air conditioner unit,
wherein the air guide duct includes a first base body constituting one duct half and a second base body constituting the other duct half which is covered over the first base body to define an air flowing space therebetween,
the first base body including a mounting part which allows wire elements of an electrical component system or the like to be contained along the duct, the second base body including a cover piece which laterally extends from the duct, and
the mounting part containing the wire elements is so constructed as to be covered with the cover piece.
Similarly, in order to solve the above described problems and attain the intended objects, there is provided according to another aspect of the invention, an air guide duct which is connected for communication with an air conditioner unit provided in a cockpit in a vehicle and adapted to pass and guide temperature regulated air supplied from the air conditioner unit,
wherein the air guide duct includes a first base body molded from resin sheet material having rigidity and constituting one duct half, and a second base body molded from foamed resin sheet material and constituting the other duct half which is covered over the first base body to define an air flowing space therebetween,
the first base body including amounting part which allows wire elements of an electrical component system or the like to be contained along the duct, the second base body including a cover piece which laterally extends from the duct, and
the mounting part containing the wire elements is so constructed as to be covered with the cover piece.
Similarly, in order to solve the above described problems and attain the intended objects, there is provided according to a still further aspect of the invention, an air guide duct which is connected for communication with an air conditioner unit provided in a passengers"" room in a vehicle in a state where the duct is fixed to a vehicle body reinforcing member and adapted to pass and guide temperature regulated air supplied from the air conditioner unit,
wherein the air guide duct includes a first base body molded from resin sheet material having rigidity and constituting one duct half, and a second base body molded from foamed resin sheet material and constituting the other duct half which is covered over the first base body to define an air flowing space therebetween,
the first base body including a mounting part which allows wire elements of an electrical component system or the like to be contained along the duct, the second base body including a cover piece which laterally extends from the duct, the mounting part containing the wire elements being covered with the cover piece, and
the second base body is so constructed as to include an elongated portion formed by elongating a portion of the cover piece, the elongated portion being interposed between the air conditioner unit and the vehicle body reinforcing member at a position where the air conditioner unit is fixed to the vehicle body reinforcing member thereby acting as vibration damping material with respect to the air conditioner unit.